Type 2 diabetes risk increases with the use of phones when you are already sleeping, according to new studies. It is understood that the use of phones before going to bed hampers sleep since blue light interferes with the body’s natural sleep cycle. However, other effects of blue light, particularly that which is emitted by screens after midnight, increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in adults aged 40 to 69, according to a study conducted on 85,000 participants. The patients’ light exposure was recorded through devices for a week and their overall health was followed for nine years to obtain such results.

According to findings from the UK Biobank study, participants who eventually developed type 2 diabetes were significantly more likely to have been exposed to light during the period from 12:30 am to 6 am. Specifically, individuals in the top 10% of nighttime artificial light exposure had a 67% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those in the lowest 50th percentile of exposure levels.

type 2 diabetes
Image Source: PureWow

Although the results of the study do not give conclusive evidence of cause and effect relationship, the results provide strong implication of the causal relationship between exposure to bright light at night and metabolic disorders. Research shows that artificial light at night can be the yellow light of a reading lamp or blue light of smartphones or TV which disrupts the process of reaching the sleep stage. In their study, researchers took into account different factors like sleep-wake cycle, gender, genetic disposition, nutrition, and exercise in order to determine the interaction between them and the results. On the other hand, the outcome did not seem to be influenced by any of these variables.

Disrupted Sleep Patterns and Type 2 Diabetes

Lifestyle diseases have become rampant and amongst the most common ailments, and based on the research done by the authors, the reduction of artificial light at night may help alleviate the problem. The authors of the study from Monash University in Australia described the effects as negative and advised "To avoid night light is a simple and cost-effective recommendation that may ease the global health burden of type 2 diabetes.”

Several research shows that any alteration in the normal sleep-wake pattern is a root cause of different diseases. Such disruptions can decrease the ability to tolerate glucose, alter the secretion of insulin, and result in weight gain, which remains one of the main causes of such conditions as type 2 diabetes. Thus, for researchers to master how night time exposure to light distorts the circadian rhythm and consequently contributes to metabolic disorders, more researchers are required. Such researches are required to reveal the subtleties of these processes and their impact on health in general.

You might also be interested in - Hospitalization risk doubled for diabetes and hypertension patients on hot days: Study